SNAME Announces Two International Collegia

SNAME announces two international collegia designed to bring technical expertise to an international membership. Planned for October 8, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro and in Oslo, Norway, these collegia stem from the SNAME International Activities Committee’s interest in reaching out to SNAME’s growing International Member community. The planned meetings will provide a forum for members to meet and exchange ideas and technical information in a particular area of interest and geographic region.

The Brazil event, held jointly by SNAME and SOBENA, (Sociedade Brasileira de Enginharia Naval,) will feature presentations and panel discussions on topics including activities related to natural gas in Brazil, advances in the use of loading computers for offshore product units, CNG as a solution for offshore gas utilization, LNG transportation developments and design and construction and ballast water issues. The event is being organized jointly by Prof. Sergio Hamilton Sphaier, Department of Ocean Engineering, COPPE - UFRJ, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil and Tom Mackey and Rob Tagg from SNAME. Petrobras, the national oil company of Brazil, is sponsoring the event which will be held in the Museu Naval in Rio de Janeiro.

The Nordic event, hosted by Det Norske Veritas, will feature discussions and presentations and allow for the exchange of technical information on a particular area of interest – Naval Architecture for Harsh Environments. A technical symposium will provide presentations on classification concerns, energy transport shipping, oil and gas exploration, and deepwater development innovations, all with a harsh environment focus.

The format of the collegia is to have a focused technical seminar on a topic of interest to the particular region, but in addition, to provide networking opportunities and the ability to exchange ideas on the future of the profession and on the professional societies. Perhaps the most important benefit will be the chance to discuss topics of interest with like-minded professionals and the opportunity to network in a stimulating and exciting environment. Future Collegia are being planned for SNAME members in Korea, China, the Arabian Gulf and the U.K.